Win or go home!
by Iron Duke
Summary: AU! What happens if Sakuragi's injury wasn't that extensive at all? Would Shohoku win the Nationals? Might turn into a RyoAya!
1. Prologue

**I don't own Slam Dunk**…L

_This the prologue ,a short recap of the last moments of the game._

--

Everyone in the gym was silently watching as Rukawa passed the ball to an open Sakuragi. Some held their breath, others hope for a miss, even some prayed for the underdogs.

The game was like a ride in a rollercoaster, with sharp drops and impossible turns, featuring Sannoh's deathly full court trap, the exciting one-on-one matches to the tough battles underneath the bucket. A game that an unknown underdog challenged the King Sannoh. A match of different meaning for every one in Shohoku. For Akagi and Kogure means this is their last high school game if they lose, for Rukawa it's an obstacle in his quest to be the number 1 in Japan.Ryota's goal to impress Ayako. Every single one of them had a different motive, but one thing they have in common,it's their love for the game.

In order to win this game,not only does everyone have to be in their best. They also have come in terms with themselves. Akagi's dominance under the bucket has ended. Rukawa's defeat in one-on-one with Eiji, Ryota being totally outplayed by his counterpart. Those incidents forced the players to acknowlegde their situations and to adapt. While Sannoh is here to prove that they are the best japanese highschool team.

So many different motives goals and emotions involved, yet there can be only 1 winner.

It is as if the world slowed down, the shot went so slowly, that someone could just pluck it out of the air like farmer a would pluck a ripe fruit from his tree. For all the players on that court, all their years of training, hopes and dreams lies on that single moment.

And Japan was shocked that day, the stadium was quiet for next few seconds, people started replaying that last shot in their minds, some wished it false, some even wished it was true, others were simply blank. Suddenly the world erupted, no one can believe what they witnessed that day, Sannoh was eliminated by a backwater school, Shohoku High.

"Nyahahaha! Thanks to this Tensai, for I have won this game single handenly. Nyahahahaha! I should be the ace of Shohoku not that fox." Sakuragi as energetic as always, was yelling on their way to the hotel. Which in turn owned himself another Gori punch.

"Bakamono! Stop making us look like fools!"

"Doaho"

"How embarrassing".

"But Gori, you should respect this Tensai fir what he has done." Said Sakuragi as he started nursing his head. Meanwhile Akagi said "That was a great victory,but we haven't reached our goals yet. Don't let this victory distract you. Tomorrow we face Aiwa, the 4th best team, make sure you rest up and be prepared.They will not back down because we defeated Sannoh today."

While everyone walked quietly back to their hotel, in their mind they were ready for anyone who stood on their way to conquer the Nation.

_A.N. hi, this is going to be my first SD fic, and I hoped you liked it. I have always wondered on this possibility. Please R&R and I need a pre-reader. cyas_


	2. The Nation’s 4th best team, Aiwa Gakuen

**I don't own SD.**

The Nation's 4th best team, Aiwa Gakuen.

The Shohoku Basketball team sat in front of the small television watching last year's match between Aiwa and Kainan.

Number 4- Moroboshi Dai-SG

Height 180cm

Weight 70kg

3rd year

"Moroboshi Dai, also known as The Star of Aichi, is unlike any SG in Japan. He, as the ace of Aiwa, can shoot, drive, defend but his passing skills and court vision is better than some point guard." stated the former White-haired Devil.

Moroboshi just scored 2 consecutive 3 pointers. This time when he received the ball, he mentioned for a screen, Maki having seen the sign turned some attention to where the screen might. In the split second, Moroboshi drove past Maki, facing Takasago for the mismatch and easily get by him too. And scored easily. The next Aiwa possession, Aiwa's point guard crossed over Jin at the top of the 3point line, forcing Maki to switch over. The ball was quickly passed to Moroboshi who once again found a mismatch again a slower Takasago, and as before left him easily. Maki at that same moment recovered to go help defend, had to avoid near perfect screen. Seeing that happen Kainan's forward quickly came to cover Moroboshi leaving he defendant alone, hoping Takasago would pick him up. Maki seeing this expected an easy turnover from and tried to double team him. Moroboshi bounces back outside behind……to the man who set the screen, just a few seconds ago.

"As you can see, Moroboshi maybe very skillful, but the teamwork is also unrivaled. However only someone with great vision and skill can make that pass" finished Anzai.

* * *

Number 5- Sazuka Kai -PF

Height 184cm

Weight 80kg

3rd year

"Another national level player, skilled in transition basketball.." Explained Coach Anzai. "Sakuragi-kun watch him carefully" he continued.

On the screen, they see cutting to the other side of the court after Kainan broke Aiwa's fast break. Instead of continuing his cut, he posted on the stronger Kainan defender. Meanwhile the ball swung to the right quickly to Moroboshi , forcing Kainan to adjust its defense. But the moment Moroboshi received the ball, he passed it back quickly, who in turn passed it to number 13. He in turn faked a shot, faked a pass to the point guard but bounce passed to Kai. Kai spun so fast that left his defender baffled, and threw thunderous dunk.

'This guy is impossibly fast under the bucket! Did you see that speed he spun past defender?" said Ryota in an alarmed tone. "Yes Miyagi-kun, this player is known for his footwork, not only is he quick, but strong for his size" Anzai as calmly as always.

* * *

Number 13- Tomoyuki Nagato -SF

Height 182cm

Weight 80kg

2nd year

Aiwa's point guard had stolen a ball from Maki and passed it to Moroboshi who is already running the fastbreak. He is followed closely by Kai and Nagato. As they reached Kainan's 3-point line. Kainan's managed to catch up, A pass to quick Kai to the left, and he drive in to score, Moroboshi continued on with Maki on his heels, Nagato continued his movement to the basket but cut trough to the other side. Because of the massive traffic in the paint, he's free again. Kai simply threw a no-look pass over his shoulder to him. 'Swish' a clean shot.

"It him again, he made that open shot earlier" remarked Mitsui. "Tomoyuki-kun was still a freshman last year. As you can see, he's a good shooter. He may not be true a 3-point shooter, but he's mid-range jump shot is unrivaled. Watch"

The next few possessions show how Nagato score shot after shot, whether with defender or not.

"Mitsui-kun, he's the team most consistent shooter." Suddenly, Nagato faked a shot, quickly driving a jumping Jin behind and pulled up for another jump shot. Passing the ball over to an open Kai.

* * *

Number 6- Kobayashi Masato -PG

Height 180cm

Weight 70kg

2nd year

Everyone gasped as Masato managed another steal after giving Jin a horrible time. He's been defending Jin tenaciously the whole game already. Jin was still scoring but unlike his usual self, he missed a number of his attempts.

"This is Aiwa's 2nd best defender. He maybe shorter than Jin, instead of defending while they have the ball, his tries to close off his passing lanes. This cause Jin to move for the ball and in the process exhausting him. Masato is usually assigned to opponent's point guard to disrupt their playing tempo. Or his job is to shut down the opposing team's best scorer in the backcourt. Because of him Moroboshi can concentrate more on offense. But in this case, Maki is a physically stronger than him and that started to wear him off. So they switched him over to Jin." explained Anzai.

"hmm…so their backcourt is quite good in defense, and switching with Moroboshi every now and then gives them both a breather" commented Akagi " and the center was already a 3rd year so we don't have to worry about him anymore. Anzai-sensei, do we have any information about the new center?."

"Ayako-kun, can you show them the released stats of Aiwa?" asked Anzai.

* * *

These are the stats of Aiwa's starters after 2 IH games.

4 Moroboshi Dai- **24.5 **ppg.- **2.0**rbg.- **8.0 **apg.- **3.0 **spg.- **1.5 **bpg

5 Sazuka Kai -**25.0 **ppg- **6.0 **rbg.- **4.0 **apg.- **1.0 **spg.- **1.0 **bpg

6 Kobayashi Masato -**13.0 **ppg- **1.0 **rbg.- **6.0 **apg.- **3.5 **spg.- **0.5 **bpg

13 Tomoyuki Nagato-**23.5 **ppg- **6.0 **rbg.- **5.5 **apg.- **1.5 **spg.- **0.0 **bpg

15 Hayase Hikaru- **8.0 **ppg-**10.0 **rbg.- **3.0 **apg.- **0.5 **spg- **2.0 **bpg

"After seeing these stats and the tape. Aiwa is a team made for transition basketball. Their main defense is stealing the ball to start a fast break. That is mainly depending on their guards." Said Kogure, their meeting is over, but no one stopped replaying the tape in their heads.

Akagi pondered." Yes, they are dangerous in the paint. With Moroboshi driving past the guards, forcing the center and forwards to switch over to him…"

" And that makes Kobayashi and Nagato free, they are deadly there" finished Kogure. "They might be shorter than us, but their size match the playing style, they defense isn't weak at all despite their small size. And they are definitely a team with a pass-first mentality." Followed Ryota

Aiwa Gakuen didn't finish 4th in the last Summer IH for nothing. They run against a fast paced Kainan. Their transition offense is nearly unstoppable and creating mismatches and has an unrivaled teamwork. But they were defeated, because their average shooting from the outside except Moroboshi and mid-range jumpers from Nagato. In the Semi-finals, Aiwa's opponent preyed on that 'weakness' because of their superb defense in the paint combined with transition defense. The size perfectly matches their playing style. Using smaller forwards to outpace opponents and bigger guards with great agility wear out opponent's playmakers and guards. Their defense bases a lot on their guards to read the opponents movements and intercept the passes to initiate their own attack. But this year Aiwa's has improved on their weakness, even though they needn't show that in the first games, because their opponent wasn't strong enough to stop their transition game.

_The following morning_

"200!" shouted Hanamichi after making his 200th shot this morning. "This Tensai is going to win this game all be himself, and Haruko-san would surely forget Rukawa" he thought. "Nyahahahaha!"

"SA-KU-RA-GI! Why are you up so early disturbing the peace!" said Ayako.

"Ayako-san? You sounded just like Gori"

'Twack!' "Say what Sakuragi?"

Some what later.

'I can't sleep, my body still hurt from yesterday's match.' Pondered Ryota. 'Even though Anzai-sensei explained Aiwa's 'limitations' last night. I can't help but have a bad feeling about this, besides their guards are such great defensive players.' He was so deep in thought that he didn't see who walking towards him.

"Ohayo Ryota"

That voice pierced trough Ryota's mind, it's that angel-like voice that belonged to his crush, Ayako.

"A-Aya-chan, why are you up so early?"

"Shouldn't you greet someone in the morning?"

"Ahh..gomen..Ohayo Aya-chan" Ryota was blushing furiously 'Baka!'

"Why are you up so early ,Ryota?"

"uhhh..I am up for some fresh air." He kicked himself mentally for lying to Ayako

"Oh! Is that so? Since when are you up so early for air? You are worried about the game, aren't you?"

"well…ummm…yes…" embarrassed because he was caught lying.

"Ryota, do you remember what I wrote on your hand during the game against Sannoh?"

"……"

"Yes, Ryota, you defended Maki valiantly during our match against them, defeated Fujima, and managed to break Sannoh's trap. Do you still doubt yourself after that? I for one have confidence that you can truly handle these guys"

"Aya-chan"

"Ohhh! Look at the time, I still have some papers to fill in, see ya later" with that Ayako hurried out of sight.

"Aya-chan"

"The crowd doesn't sounds excited at all" commented Kogure. Shohoku was in their locker-room getting ready for their half-time warm-up.

As Shohoku went to courtside in preparation for their warm-up.

Kainan was winning 41-26.

"Looks like Kainan has this game wrapped up" snorted Akagi. "Otamori High has no chance at all if this keeps up"

Half-time went as fast as it came. Soon the buzzer marked another Kainan's victory.

"Alright! Listen up, like pointed out by Anzai-sensei last night. Miyagi-kun, you have Kobayashi. Mitsui-kun, you have Moroboshi. Rukawa-kun, Nagato. Akagi-kun, Hayase and Sakuragi-kun, you will guard Sazuka. Remember, they will always try to create mismatches, and make sure to the paint is off-limit."

"YOSSHH!...SHOHOKU!...FIGHT…FIGHT…FIGHT!"

At the same time.

"Ok guys, you know what to do. Run fast breaks early, and force them to play our speed. Follow what we have planned out and this will be alright. They might have defeated Sannoh, but we Aiwa have worked hard to avenge our loss last year against them. But don't take em lightly, play them as if you are playing Sannoh."

"1..2..3.. GO AIWA!"

The stadium has been full since the 2nd half of the Kainan-Otamori game. Everyone wants to see if Shohoku's last game was a fluke or not. This was the perfect test, a match against Aiwa Gakuen. Aiwa along with Sannoh Tech, Daie High of Toyotama Prefecture were the candidates for the championship. Sannoh tech was eliminated by an unknown school. At the mention of Kanagawa, one has Kainan in mind. The tides have changed, with the insurgence of Meihou and Kainan proving a lot stronger than they appeared. And this sudden upset, the title is bound to be won by anyone.

The gym was so noisy that you will have to scream to make your neighbor understand you. It was as crowded and noisy as the championship game.

As the players take their positions for the tip-off. 'That rookie center seems to be around 190cm, but he is build extremely strong. He looks like a fast player judging from the warm-ups. He's perfectly suits Aiwa's philosophy though. Smaller but faster than other centers' as Ayako finalizes her analysis.

"Ok boys, Good luck" the referee whistled and throws the ball up for the tip-off. Everyone the gym tensed and the moment they have been waiting for commenced.

While on the court, both Akagi and Hayase jumped up at the same time!

_That was chapter 1 of my first SD fanfic. Sorry if the names of Aiwa's players sound weird. I am not very good with names after all. Please R&R. Thanks for reading._


	3. Aiwa's Wrath

**I don't own SD**

Aiwa's Wrath.

The gym was filled with silence as the buzzer sounded. Even the crowd got exhausted from watching this intensely fought match. Urayasu won 53-46, an intense game it was. It was a surprise since Urayasu blew out their opponent in the first round. Both sides defended with such intensity that offence was completely useless.

"This might be Shohoku's next opponent, Fujima." stated an amazed Hanagata.

"Indeed, their defence is monstrous. Both sides played an excellent defensive game. But let's hurry, Shohoku is playing Aiwa" finished Fujima.

* * *

The first glimpse they caught from the game was a thunderous dunk by Hayase.

* * *

"RUKAWA!" shouted Akagi as he managed to win the jump ball

Rukawa, as stoic as ever, caught the ball with ease and raced towards Aiwa's basket. Nagato caught up quickly to stop Rukawa is attack. The rookie slowed for just one moment, and suddenly he felt a presence to his right. A double-team!

"This guy might be the next number 1 high school player in Japan" thought Moroboshi as he swiped to steal the ball. Rukawa immediately bounces the ball to his left hand and blew past a stunned Nagato, only to find Kobayashi in his way.

"Rukawa! Hold it! Reset!" commanded Ryota. 'Rukawa, you underestimate our defence' thought Aiwa's Coach Izawa. 'Our transition defence is superb'.

"Mmm." Rukawa lowered himself instead, Kobayshi took this sign that Rukawa will try to shake him. Instead Rukawa pulled up for a shot.

_In the stands_

Maki. "That was typical Rukawa."

"He should have passed the ball back. If he missed, there was no rebounder" said Jin

"It might have been selfish, but his defender was shorter, he wouldn't have missed easily"

"Rukawa! You fox! I was free! Why didn't you pass to me? You show-off!"

"Come back you fool!" shouted Akagi.

Meanwhile Aiwa executed their deadly transition game. Kobayashi raced downcourt followed by closely by Moroboshi and Nagato for a 3 on 2 situations. The ball was quickly passed to Moroboshi, who in turn drove to the basket but Mitsui was going to let him go.

'Damn, this guy is good. I guess he isn't the Star of Aichi for nothing' though Mitsui.

'Your defence is good, but not good enough.' And he stopped and threw a pass to the free Nagato for the basket.

Ryota quickly passed to ball to Mitsui, 'Heh, they have only 2 defenders now.' And with that he passed to ball to Hanamichi who is till on the opponent's court. Before Hanamichi got the ball, Sazuki caught the ball and was already racing down court. And threw a bullet pass to Kobayashi. He faked a pass to Moroboshi and passed the ball back to the streaking Sazuki.

'Shohoku's win of Sannoh is a lucky streak then' thought Sazuki.

"Don't think you lost me yet, Chibi"

'What? That's impossible! How could he have caught up with me. This will teach you.'

Sakuragi slammed into Hayase's screen. This left Akagi facing Sazuki, he turned his back to Akagi and gave him a push.

'This guy wants force his way in? Or does he has something in mind?'

Sazuki turned to the left, immediately feeling Akagi respond. And then he spun back to the right leaving Akagi behind, laying the ball in just outside Akagi's reach, giving Aiwa the lead 4-2, with only 30 seconds played.

"Gori! Why did you let him do that?"

'Yes, he is fast, I should have known that he wouldn't use force."

"C'mon Captain, you are lagging behind" said Miyagi. "Ok let's back the lost points"

'Damn this guy, he's good. But I am better.' Ryota thought as he crossed Kobayashi over. But found himself with Aiwa's center. 'Means Akagi is free' shot into his mind. instead he found Sazuki between him and Akagi…'Shit, their defence has rotated this fast?' He saw everyone already guarded. 'Means I have to finish this myself then' he smiled smugly. He blew past Hayase, forcing Nagato to defend him, leaving Rukawa free. Ryota made a short shuffle pass to Rukawa…..but the ball was stolen by Moroboshi and dashed to Shohoku's basket.

"Defence! Get quickly back!" shouted Kogure. Moroboshi stopped as hi reached the 3-pointline. 'He stopped. Why?' thought Mitsui. And then he shot to the right "Screen!". Mitsui avoided the screen set by Nagato, but he left Moroboshi undefended. In the exact moment Nagato rolled and sprint towards the basket. Another 3 on 2 situations.

Moroboshi now faced Rukawa and Hanamichi, to the left he has Kobayashi and to his right Nagato. 'Who is he going to pass to?'. Moroboshi ran into their defense and sees Miyagi just ran in time to cover Kobayashii and Mitsui covering Nagato.

'Shohoku, you fell into our trap!' And he changed the ball to his left hand , to pass it off to Hayase running in behind him. And he dunked the ball with all his might!

"I see that Aiwa's transition hasn't weakened even a bit" said Maki. "Aiwa's power offence coupled with their ability to defend the outer court is strong."

In 2 minutes time Shohoku is down 10-2.

"Shohoku played right into their game. They should have realised now that they can't match Aiwa in a running game" continued Fujima and in his mind 'Miyagi, if you are to be the next number 1 point guard in Kanagawa, you should have realised this already'.

'Shit' cursed Ryota as he once again committed another turnover. 'At this rate we will lose, Captain Akagi is too slow for this.' At that moment something shot into his mind and kicked himself mentally for not being able to realise this sooner. Kobayashi managed to score an uncontested shot, courtesy from Nagato.

Meanwhile Aiwa scrambled back to defence. "Alright guys, let's take this slow and easy" commanded Ryota calmly as he made his way to the other half. As he stepped on the opponent's court he was immediately defended by Kobayashi and Moroboshi. A half-court press!

* * *

_Dr. T's announcement: The half-court press is similar to Sannoh full court press. Instead they choose to press the opponent's point guard at halfcourt. This way they want to force him to cross back to their own court for a backcourt-violation._

* * *

"Looks like Aiwa wants to win this game badly" said Maki. "They can't afford to underestimate Shohoku. They beat Sannoh, even though Sannoh was very well-prepared".

"It's more a personal thing. Shohoku eliminated Sannoh, Aiwa wanted vengeance." Fujima said. "So Aiwa's pissed at Shohoku for taking their chance away?" asked Hanagata.

"Exactly."

"Phhhrriiittttt! 30-seconds violation (also known as shot clock violation). Red ball." Announced the referee. Ryota managed to the pass the ball off to Mitsui, but he took to much time to do so, as a result a turnover.

Moroboshi dribbled the ball slowly, wanting Mitsui to attempt a steal. Mitsui didn't fall for it and defended him even harder. 'Mitsui.. Don't push yourself too hard' thought Kogure.

Moroboshi charged in, Mitsui followed him, trying not to give a single inch, stopped halfway and pulled up for a shot. "Hah! Gori's Flyswatter!" Hanamichi jumped, ready to block the shot. Moroboshi simply passed the ball off to Sazuki instead for an easy lay-up. 12-2, Aiwa with only 2:40 minutes played.

Ryota once again reached the half court, this time ready for the press, passed the ball quickly to Mitsui, who in turn passed it to Rukawa. Rukawa watched Nagato coolly in the faced, and exploded past him, for a lay-up. Out of nowhere Hayase jumped to block him….only to find an empty space instead. Rukawa laid the ball in from the other side making the 12-4

"Rebound!" both side shouted, as Kobayashi forced a heavily contested shot by Miyagi. The battle in the paint has begun. 'No, he's got me screened out. No way am I going to lose to you!' And Akagi jumped for the rebound. As the shot clanged off the rim, Hayase jumped to snatch the rebound from Akagi, faked and went up for the bucket. He felt a presence looming over him and felt the ball smashed out of his hands. Out of bounds, but still Aiwa's ball.

'How was that possible? The way was clear, no one could've reacted to or let alone did this' thought Hayase.

"Nyahahaha, remember my name, nameless one, for I am Tensai Sakuragi, Nhyahahaha."

Nagato threw the ball back in to Kobayashi, and he swung the ball to Moroboshi. "Mitsui screen left" Ryota warned. 'These screens are really pissing me off' Mitsui thought as he slammed into Koboyashi. Moroboshi faced Ryota, drove to the left, but Ryota's defence is tight. He rose and shot over Ryota. The ball swished through the net.

Once again Ryota found himself trapped at half court. 'Damn, this is bad.' Thought Ryota. Just the moment he saw Rukawa break free, and he passed to ball to him. Rukawa passed the ball to Akagi.

'As I expected, Rukawa's saving his energy. How predictable.' thought Izawa-sensei 'they are playing into our hands.'

Akagi backed into Hayase, but found that his defender wouldn't bulge. 'He's strong, but are you skilful enough to stop me?' Akagi thought and faked to the baseline feeling Hayase going with him He quickly went the opposite side, finding Hayase already back there. But that moved got Akagi closer to the basket, allowing him to shoot the ball. The shot went in but was well contested. This made the game 14-4.

Aiwa's once again began to attack as soon as they got possession. Kobayashi couldn't shake Ryota. So he passes to Nagato, who tried a fake and attacked, Rukawa kept in front of him forcing him to pass the ball back out. The ball was then swung to the weak side fast.

"Well…Tensai, it's you and me now. Think you can handle it." Said Sazuki as he posted on Hanamichi. In a flash he spun by Hanamichi, who in turn managed to recover and guarded him. It was too late as Moroboshi cut in trough the middle, as Mitsui once again tried to avoid a screen. After receiving the ball from Sazuki he went up for the lay-up. 16-4 for Aiwa.

'This isn't working, those screens are too good. We now have to use plan B. But we never truly practiced it.' Thought Ryota. "Ok let's take this slowly, guys. One point at the time" he shouted. When he reached half-court, he gave Hanamichi a sign for a screen. Then charged fast trying to avoid the double-team. Kobayashi noticed Sakuragi's screen and avoided him.

'Grrrr! He will not pass this tensai.' He thought and shifted quickly to catch Kobayashi. "See! No one can escape the great tensai." The referee blew the whistle and declared "Moving screen, red ball". "What! What's that? Are you trying to pick on me!" Sakuragi was furious and ready to pummel the referee, if it weren't for a Gori punch.

"Bakamono!" Akagi boomed "Are you trying to get thrown out of the game?".

* * *

_Dr. T's announcement: While a players sets a screen, he's not allowed to move along with the opponent player to block him off, or else it are a moving screen.  
_

* * *

'Hmm…that would have been a nice addition to the Judo-team' pondered Aota, the Judo-team has just defeated Muru High . "Ohh.. Do you think Hanamichi will foul out today?" said Takamiya anxious ( I don't remember the Gundan's names, only Mito). "That would be his first ejection in the Nationals" "Yes, I bet 500 yen that he would last a few more minutes"

Shohoku managed to stop Aiwa's fast break and forced them to reset. "Ok, Plan B!" shouted Ryota. Shohoku, known for playing man to man defence rearranged into a zone-defence.

"Aiwa's offence on the half court depends on screen and mismatches. Especially scoring in the bucket area. Zone defence concentrates in defending that particular area." Stated Maki.

"The real question is if Shohoku can really play this defence effectively. As they are more experienced playing man to man" finished Fujima.

* * *

_Flashback_

_"If we cannot stop Aiwa, we will have to swath to zone defence." Said Anzai-sensei._

_"But sensei, we don't really have experience in that defence" said Akagi._

_"True, but this may yet be the only choice if we cannot defend against their pick and rolls." And he continued before Akagi could say anything, "We will only play zone if Mitsui-kun and Miyagi-kun are unable to defend Moroboshi and Kobayashi's penetration"_

_End flashback._

* * *

'Zone-defence that means I have failed. I, Mitsui Hisashi, has failed you Anzai-sensei' Mitsui started to doubt himself. 'Sensei trusted me the job to guard their ace and I failed.'

Aiwa realizing this quickly began swinging the ball quickly, forcing the zone to shift in order to follow the ball movement. With Mitsui deep in thought, he was 1 step behind and thus creating an opening.

Right that moment Sazuki cut trough the bucket, received a short pass for Kobayashi and shot the ball quickly. It was short and Akagi. took the rebound. Shohoku made his way down court.

As he reached mid-court he quickly passed the ball off to Mitsui. "What the..! Are trying to kill me!" Mitsui saw the pass the last moment but managed to catch it still. 'Damn I am losing my concentration.'

"Mitsui, head's up. Watch out for the double-team"

"Shut up. I am not blind." And passed it back to Ryota, who passed to Hanamichi.

But Sazuki defence was good, and poked the ball free.

"And you call yourself a tensai?"

"I will show you."

Hanamichi recovered the ball, turned around and shot the ball. The ball hit the back of the rim and bounced out. But he rose up and rebounded the ball, out jumping everyone around him.

'He is strong, I couldn't box him out' though Sazuki, 'But he's still unable to shoot with defender in his face.' Sakuragi landed and pumped faked. Sazuki jumped in the air. Nagato seeing this came in to help with the defence leaving Rukawa free. Sakuragi notices him and passed the ball off.

Hayase, still surprised by Hanamichi unexpected action, was easily overpowered by Akagi.

"Gori Dunk!" the Shohoku bench shouted. 'I will never allow you, Akagi. You maybe one of the best centers, don't count us out yet' Sazuki jumped in the air just in time to block Akagi.

Akagi feeling the ball press back pushed the ball to the basket with all his strength.

The entire crowd was enticed by this show of strength. In the end it was obvious who the stronger player was. Akagi dunked on Sazuki and drawing the foul. 16-6 for Aiwa with 16:24 still left on the clock.

Akagi took the ball from the referee and prepared for the free throw. The shot hit the rim and bounced back out. Sazuki battled Hanamichi for the rebound and pushed him out. Hanamichi hasn't given up yet , jumped just enough tap the ball back in the air. 'And now for the rebound' he thought. Instead Akagi caught the ball and past Hayase using both skill and strength scoring another basket. The score is 16-8 .

For next 4 minutes, neither side gained an upper hand. Shohoku's zone defence and quickly returning for defence after an attack, started to slow Aiwa's offence. On the other side, Akagi took advantage of a smaller and less experienced center. The remaining time is 12:04 with the score of 27-20.

"Ok guys take this slowly" Ryota made his way down court again. 'Mitui is acting quite out of character, why is that?'

He shrugged that thought off as he tried to avoid the double team again. He then passes the ball to Rukawa. Rukawa, watches Nagato intently, pumped-faked and passed to ball to Akagi, Moroboshi jumped in the help defend him. Akagi seeing this passes the ball back out to Mitsui. Mitsui shot the ball but clanged off. Sakuragi got the rebound again, he tried to bypass Sazuki, but couldn't. He reluctantly passes the ball back to Ryota. He then passed to Mitsui, who attempted another 3 pointer. Moroboshi was able to tip the ball with his middle finger.

The ball soared through the air.

It hit the backboard and banked in. 27-23 Aiwa still up with 11:40 left. 'It went in, I may not be able to defend you but I can still shoot' thought Mitsui unaware it was merely a lucky shot.

Shohoku defence concentrated around the bucket making it impossible to attack within.

Kobayashi dribbled the ball briefly and passed it Moroboshi. Mitsui jumped out rapidly to defend him. Moroboshi faked a shot, 'Hmm..He's sure defending better' and passed it Koboyashi who passed it to Nagato. He took a shot that looked lazily.

Sazuki had been posting on Sakuragi and acted as a screen for Nagato, leaving him completely open. This was giving Aiwa some breathing space. But Ryota choose this moment to push the offence. It ended with a turnover.

Aiwa next play was pretty much the same the last one. Sazuki acting as a screen to give Nagato another open shot. Sakuragi this managed to break the screen and went to block Nagato.

Unfortunately Nagato saw through this and bounces the ball to Sazuki, who scored easily. 31-23 with 11:11 left.

'Damn they are gaining again.' Thought Ryota. He then passes to Mitsui , but the ball got stolen. 'Damn not again.' And Aiwa was once again starting their offence. He passed to Moroboshi who in turn passed to Nagato for the lay-up.

Instead he found the ball missing. Rukawa managed to slap the ball out of bounds. So Kobayashi mentioned for a play and passed the ball to Moroboshi. He fakes and drove in, forcing Ryota to help defend him. Seeing Ryota drop back for defence, he passes it back out to Kobayashi. Ryota had foreseen this but couldn't steal the ball. The pass was too good.

Kobayashi mentions for a play and passes the ball to Nagato while the clock is winding down. Sakuragi seeing immediately jumped out. "I see you are still a freshman" commented Nagato and bounces the ball to Sazuki……except the ball never got to him.

"Boom!" the ball flew and hit the doors of the gym soundly.

"Foot! Red ball!" Sakuragi kicked the ball out of bounds with all his strength!

The entire gym bursted out into a fit of laughing.

"I can see these people don't know as much of basketball as they think." said Fujima calmly.

"What do you mean by that, Fujima-san?" said Kiyato still laughing " That monkey clearly knows nothing. He kicked that ball."

"Take a look at the shot-clock, Kiyota" said Maki. There was still 2 seconds on the shot clock.(A.N. This rule was changed since this fic was written)

"Kicking the ball out was a good play. It doesn't reset the shot clock. This way Aiwa will have only 2 seconds to shoot the ball" Before Maki could have finished his sentence, the referee called a shot clock violation and this giving the ball to Shohoku. Still 31-23 with 10:41 left

"Nyahahaha! I have planned this out from the beginning. Nyahahahaha!" (A.N. no he didn't)

'You will not stop me from conquering the nation.' Akagi once again forces Hayase who in turn held Akagi in place. Akagi suddenly changed tactics and spins, but finds Sazuki on him. He knew what he had to do. Sakuragi receives the ball

"Thank you, Gori!" he yelled and went for the dunk.

"Bakamono!" Shohoku's Captain yelled back ' He should have shot the ball!'

And on queue, Sakuragi got blocked by Sazuki. The ball flew into the air. Akagi shrugged the thought and swore vengeance on Sakuragi instead. And with that he jumped up for the rebound. Some one was quicker that he was.

A shadow jumped up for the blocked shot and dunked the ball in.

Everyone in the gym was in awe of what had happened. No one had ever seen something like that before. After that chaos hit the gym, every one is screaming trough each other.

"Do aho, don't make me clean up your mess every time"

"Rukawa, teme!..." he was forced to stop because he had to nurse another lump on head.

"L-O-V-E, RU-KA-WA!"

Ryota stole the ball when Hayase threw the ball in, grasping this opportunity he went for lay-up and double-pumped. When he released the ball, he got hacked by Hayase.

"Thud!" he came down with great force.

"Intentional foul. Red number 15. Shot counts, 1 throw."

Hayase attempted to argue but was stopped by Moroboshi. He said instead, "Don't worry, we all make mistakes, keep your calm."

"Ryota, are you ok?" said Akagi as he gave Ryota a hand to get up. "You look shaken."

"Nah…its ok" He waved him off

'Ryota, you baka, you had me worried there for a moment' thought Ayako.

Ryota took the free throw; it looked like an ugly shot. The ball hit the backboard, bounces on the front of the rim, and then bounces back to the back of the rim.

And the ball finally rolls in.

Sakuragi and Mitsui quickly jumped in and started slapping him like no tomorrow.

"Hey, that hurts," he tried in vain. When they stopped he felt some one behind him and looked around.

"Sorry for the hit, it wasn't my intention." said Hayase.

"No problem, its part of the game." He said in return.

'Damn, he's covering every inch of my view.' cursed Mitsui as he tried to throw the ball in. 'Moroboshi isn't the Star of Aichi for nothing.' But he finally got the ball in to Ryota.

"Ok guys let's take this slowly." He dribbled the ball slowly, and then beat Koboyashi with a crossover. Hayase was screened by Akagi,

'So easy points for me' he thought, but he say Sazuki coming to help defence, 'This means there's a mismatch'

And he passed the ball out high to Hanamichi, guard by none other then Koboyashi. He received the ball and said, "Let the tensai show that short people should stay of the court."

and made a jump shot. The ball hit the board and banks out; Akagi caught the rebound and was instantly double teamed. He couldn't Ryota nor Hanamichi, 'Where are those fools!'

Rukawa was tightly guarded by Nagato, but he's likely saving energy. He then spotted, Mitsui who managed to break free from Moroboshi after some tiresome 'work'. The brief moment Mitsui was open he received the ball.

'Ok, Star of Aichi, I am Mitsui Hisashi.' He pumped faked, faked a pass, moved he's left shoulder 'Shit he isn't falling far any, oh wait I know.'

And he dribbled quickly to his right. Moroboshi anticipated this and avoided a screen set by Hanamichi, but it gave Mitsui enough time to shoot the ball.

The crowd watches the ball silently, as the ball makes a beautiful arc towards the basket. It hits nothing but net. Nobody got tired of his shooting form or his abilities as a3 point shooter.

"MIT-CHANNN!" cried Noru and his crew

That shot made the score 31-29, with 9:59 left. Something is about to happen to change the whole game. Coach Izawa stood up and gave Moroboshi a nod and sat back down.

"I knew Aiwa something in their sleeves. They can't hope to become champion with that offence alone." said Maki, noticing Izawa-sensei's sign, "The real game is about to start."

_Thanks for reading. Sorry for the delay though, I got lazy and played Guild Wars non-stop over the last weeks :P, I know it isn't a healthy to do. BTW, only Moroboshi is a player created by Inoue-san. I couldn't find any information about the other Aiwa's players. I made them based off my impression of episode 87, where Aiwa played Meihou. Aiwa seemed more like a team I have described earlier focusing on smaller but athletic and versatile players._

_Anyways that was my impression any way. Please R&R._


	4. From Downtown

**I don't own SD!**

_First off...really sorry for the really long delay, lots of things happened in the last year, between different jobs, college, practice and most recently my gf and i broke up after 15 months. And now we are 2 games away from the finals! Enough of me, on to the fic!_

"blah blah" is speech

'blah blah' is thought

--

From Downtown!

'Shohoku is dangerous indeed' thought Moroboshi, 'But we practiced to beat Sannoh, you will get a taste of this.' Moroboshi dribbled downcourt and called "Play number 3!" with that he passed the ball off to Kobayashi.

Aiwa players all moved to their positions outside the 3-point line except for Hayase who posts high at the free throw line, just between

Ryota and Mitsui. But this also forces Akagi to defend higher. Aiwa now starts swinging the ball fast, forcing Ryota and Mitsui to keep moving.

Suddenly Moroboshi passed the ball to Hayase in the middle. Ryota and Mitsui instinctively closed in to triple-team Hayase,

whom seeing this passed the ball quickly back outside to Moroboshi, who in turn swinged to ball over to Kai outside the 3point-line.

Hanamichi remembered the tape, 'This guy can't shoot 3's.'.

Instead Kai rises up and takes the shot. "Swish!" Aiwa up 34-29.

"Booo, that was a lucky shot, go away with that!" screamed Hanamichi, while Ryota dribbled down court.

'Hmmm...that offensive setup they used earlier,favors 3 point shooters...hm?!...' Before Ryota could finish his train of thought, he found himself passing the ball hastily to Mitsui, because they nearly trapped him again. Mitsui facing Nagato who rotated over to defend him, he faked him and drove passed Nagato, pulled up for a shot. 'Damn, he touched the ball.' he thought, "It's off, get the rebound!" Hayase already anticipated the block, had a good position on Akagi. Akagi seeing that he is already boxed out, screamed for Shohoku to run to defence.

'Let's just hope I was wrong about their offensive setup.' tought Ryota as Aiwa setup their offence like the last time. Masato passed to ball down low to Nagato. Rukawa went out to defend him, Hayase moved lower to the low post, drawing Akagi with him.Forcin the Shohoku defence to shift. Nagato seeing passed the ball inside to Hayase, turned to face Akagi. At the same time Rukawa moved back to double Hayase. He realised this and passed the ball back to Nagato, who swung the ball up, then the ball went the to weak side quickly...into the waiting hands of Kai, who scored another 3 pointer. On the other end Hanamichi turned the ball over which resulted into a Nagato 3 pointer.

"Well well, Aiwa learned a new trick." Maki said. "They have learned how to force opponents to play their ball."

"Yeah, if their opponent decided to play zone defence, to protect their bucket and prevent mismatches when in the man-to-man situation" Jin followed.

"They will spread out and shoot 3's, force their opponent to defend the 3's, thus give them room to drive, or force them back to man-to-man"

Ryota took the ball out quickly and raced to Aiwa's basket, hoping for an easy basket, but was stopped again. He then passes the ball to Rukawa. The crowd held their breath, preparing for a spectacular drive by him. He instead bounced to Akagi. Akagi, backed on Hayase but found himself double teamed again.

'Damn, these guys know how to defend.' He passed the ball to Hanamichi who was open.But Kai reacted quicky and got a piece of the ball, hitting the ball out of bounds,

Ryota quickly inbounded the ball. Meanwhile establishing eye-contact with Rukawa and Hanamichi. Hanamichi made a v-cut to free himself, while Rukawa crosses the court via the baseline. Ryota faked a pass to Rukawa, but Moroboshi caught the fake and went to defend Hanamichi instead...leaving Mitsui open. Mitsui received the pass, took his time and swished the ball. 40-32 with 7:41 left.

For the next possesions, the teams traded baskets. 3 3 pointers by Moroboshi and 2 jumpshot by Mitsui. With the resulting score of 49-36 with 7:01 left.

'We need to break their groove or else we are gone.' thought Ryota, as Hayase received the ball in the middle. He saw that Ryota and Mitsui hasn't closed in on him yet, so he challenged Akagi. He tried to get by him, but Akagi is a defensive monster ,forcing Hayase to miss. Ryota passed the ball to Mitsui who is already running the fastbreak. Mitsui caught the ball and raced downcourt with Moroboshi hounding him. He slowed down and tried to cross him over. Moroshi saw this and stepped back to prevent himslf from being crossed over. That was all the room Mitsui needed, he rises and shoots a 3 pointer. The ball hit the board and banks in. The Shohoku bench bursts into cheers as this happened.

Moroboshi quickly passed the ball to Kobayashi, who suddenly faced Mitsui and Ryota...an half-court trap, he got a taste of his own medicine! Ryota quickly stole the ball and raced towards their basket. Going for the layup, he saw that he had no chance. Moroboshi has anticipated him, Mitsui is guarded by Kobayashi.

But he has not lost hope yet...

he threw the ball high up...

off the board...

with more force than ussuall...

Because hope has come in the form of a fiery redhead...

"Ari-" he said as he took the jump "Ga-", caught the ball, "Tooooooo, Ryo-chin!",and he finished his sentence with a 2 handed dunk while being held by Hayase. The crowd was in awe. Is he a monster? How can he still jump like that with Hayase holding him?

"Red Foul, number 15..1 shot" at that time Coach Izawa took Hayase out of the game. He has already 3 fouls.

Hanamichi took his shot, but it bounces off the rim. But Rukawa was there, he took the rebound, but Moroboshi slap the ball out of his hands. Ryota took the ball, seeing he was free, he took the shot. It bounces off the board this time. This time Sakuragi took the rebound, faked the shot and passed the ball to Mitsui who is open. 49-44 with 5:14 left.

"Nice steal, Ryota!" screamed Ayako,. Ryota managed to steal the ball from Aiwa's point guard. But he slowed the pace down, knowing that slowing down is the best option against Aiwa. Aiwa's replacement center couldn't match up agianst Akagi, as Akagi posted on him and scored 6 easy points on him. Making the score 52-50.

For the next few minutes both teams missed their shots.

With 0:57 left, Kobayashi dashed downcourt with the ball, seeing Ryota and Mitsui trying to surprise him with a double team again, he passed the ball off to Moroboshi. Rukawa had to step up quickly, Moroboshi drives through Rukawa, but Rukawa wouldn't let him go that easily. The Star of Aichi quickly passed the ball to the corner, where Nagato was. But Akagi reaches him in time to prevent the shot. Kai cuts through the middle, takes the pass from Nagato. The he fakes shot, a pass and a head-fake, he managed to evade Hanamichi for a dunk. Shohoku made a mistake in defence and Aiwa made them pay for it.

Ryota once again finds himself passing the ball quickly to Mitsui. Aiwa's defence was determined to stop this basket. Mitsui was quickly covered by Kai, seeing the mismatch he tried to cross him over, it he wouldn't let him go. He faked the shot and passed the ball to Hanamichi, who is guarded by the center who replaced Hayase. 'If this benchwarmer is on me, means i can score easily on him...nyahahaha...Huh?!...Where is the ball?'

Moroboshi has stolen the ball! "Fastbreak! Go!Go!" he shouted, instead he found himself with Rukawa, he crossed him over, but Rukawa managed to poke the ball free. Ryota took the ball and passed it to Hanamichi, who tried to dunk the ball. Kai was 1 step faster and blocked the ball. Resulting in Akagi's hand, he went up for the shot, but Kai was there again, putting a hand in his face. The ball bounces off the backboard, Sakuragi went up for the rebound, he tried to go up for the shot, but sees Mitsui free. He passed him the ball.

"Baka! Watch with the passes." Said Mitsui as the ball was nearly stolen by Moroboshi. Ryota freed himself from Kobaashi took the pass...'10 seconds left..'

He crossed Kobayashi over, and dashed towards the basket. Akagi seeing this moved out of the zone trying to draw Kai with him. But switched over to defend Ryota, as he bounced the ball to Akagi for the dunk.

Shortly afterwards the horn sounded and signaled the end of the first half.

_Thanks for reading. I know this was short but i had to shake off some rust :P. Please drop a review on your way out._


	5. Masterminds

**I don't own SD!**

_First off (again)…Due to a very busy schedule, I have completely forgotten about this fiction. And when I finally started working on it again, I got the writer's block --" begs for forgiveness.I must thank Ivan Chan who actually reminded me of it, hehe. _

"blah blah" is speech

'blah blah' is thought

Masterminds

_Aiwa's locker-room_

"Ok, you guys have done a good job so far" said Coach Izawa, "but now the real half starts. Rukawa has been saving his energy for this."  
'But I didn't think they'd force us to use our new play this early on, I did expect them to force us into using it, not so soon though'  
"Continue spacing the floor, force Shohoku to pick their poison. Let us shoot 3's or play us man-to-man. And for defense, this is the plan…."

* * *

_Shohoku's locker-room_

Everyone entered the locker-room silently, not a moment did they doubt that Aiwa would let them off easily. The tape last night showed a very similar and yet different team. The score is 54-52, Aiwa with the lead. That's expected from a team that reached the final 4 last year.

"So, what are your opinions about the previous half?" asked Coach Anzai, and he looked around stoically for answers. "Miyagi-kun?" ,he asked after a minute of silence.  
"Their defense is good, the transition defense, and the half-court press. On the offense they spread the floor and shoot 3's."  
"Good", said the coach, "but what I meant, how are we keeping up with this?"  
After a brief silence again, Azai spoke spoke again. "We slowed the pace to slow the game down, yet the score is 54-52, which is a high score for a slow paced game. This one thing is clear. Neither of us can stop each other's offensive game. So the first team who can stop the other team's offence will win this game. Here is our defensive plan for the 2nd half…."

* * *

_Back in Aiwa's locker-room_

"With that in mind, that will happen", finished Coach Izawa.  
The players looked at the coach surprised, what the coach explained was an unorthodox defensive scheme, but it's a sound plan which will definitely have good results.

"Remember boys, our aim is the championship, if we have to crush every team to get there, so be it!"

* * *

_Back in Shohoku's locker-room_

"Speed up the game when you can, but don't force it. Rukawa-kun and Sakuragi-kun will be helping you with the fast breaks and look for Akagi as the trailer." continued Coach Anzai looking every single one of them in the eyes, " I said it before and I will repeat it again…You guys are strong. Believe in it and live it like you did against Sannoh, and at the end of this, I guarantee you will be the victors."

Knock! "Shohoku, 2 left of the halftime left" warned an attendant and left.

"Ok lets go" yelled Akagi.

* * *

_Back on the court_

'Rukawa, you are a monstrous freshman. I couldn't believe my eyes when you were almost on par with Eiji', thought Coach Izawa, 'But you are still a freshman, unlike Eiji, Moroboshi is focused and a hard worker. He always plays 100 no matter who he plays.'

Rukawa felt a gaze on his back, and turned his head to that direction, and caught a glimpse of Moroboshi turning his head away.

* * *

_Flashback _

_It was after the tape session when everyone went about their business. He went to the toilet before going to sleep when he met Anzai-sensei.  
"Rukawa-kun, do you have a moment?" asked the coach. Which to Rukawa only nodded.  
"You played well today, with today's performance you have shown that you are on your way to become Japan's No. 1 high school player."  
Rukawa only stared at his coach, and Anzai-sensei took this as a sign to continue.  
"But you should know you are not there yet, and there are plenty of players you must surpass to claim that title"  
"Moroboshi Dai"  
"Correctly, he is probably one of the very few players who could compete with Eiji."_

_"Tomorrow, Aiwa may put Moroboshi to defend you." With those words, Coach Anzai bid him good night and left._

* * *

"PHHHRRIIIITTT!!" and the ball went up for the jumpball!!

Akagi won the jumpball and tapped the ball over to Ryota, who tried to charge ahead. But he was already marked by Nagato and Kai on defense. He dribbled the ball and waited for the others, called a play and passed the ball to Rukawa.

Rukawa received the ball at the 3-point circle, roughly at 45 degree. And the other Shohoku players moved away. Isolation play!!

But the crowd is instantly struck with lightning. Rukawa Kaede vs. Moroboshi Dai!!

"Rukawa, you think you can take me? Come, show me what you've got!"  
"Hmmm!"

Rukawa dribbled twice and exploded to the basket, unable to shake Moroboshi, then he head faked, and took Moroboshi with a nice crossover.

'Rukawa! You cannot beat me, you are a notch below Eiji and me. On top of that, you are still a freshman.….I am the Star of Aichi!'

Moroboshi recovered and stripped the ball from Rukawa when he was going for the lay-up. He then passed the ball immediately to Masato for the break. But he was closely defended by Ryota, and the other members of Shohoku quickly returned to defense. As he slowly dribbled the ball upcourt, he saw Shohoku's defense, 1-3-1 defense!

_In the stands._

"Offense wins games and defense wins championships" noted Kainan's coach Takato, "Both teams wants to win this game and the championship. By putting Moroboshi on Rukawa, shows Aiwa respects him."  
"And for Rukawa, means he will have to beat probably the No. 2 High school player in Japan." Said Maki.

"But Shohoku will not be left behind either. 1-3-1 defense. A zone defense that defends the 3 pointer and the bucket area."

_Back on the court._

Aiwa swung the ball quickly around, looking for an opening. Ryota plays the top position. Sakuragi, Rukawa and Mitsui play the middle line, with the latter 2 playing the wings. And last man, Akagi.

'1-3-1 defense. It requires a lot of practice to play this defense right, I know from my sources, your team is not proficient enough in that defense, Coach Anzai.' Thought Coach Izawa.

On that moment, Mitsui playing the wing was late and Moroboshi drove by him.

'The wings are important to close of the 3 pointers. But because of their far positions, they will be unable to get back in time to help.'

But Akagi stepped up to take Moroboshi, but he already passed the ball to Kai on the baseline.

'But the 1-3-1 defense greatest weakness…The vulnerable baseline!! Coach Anzai, are you losing your touch?' Coach Izawa puzzled.

Kai took the ball and went up for the shot. And all he could see was Sakuragi's hand in his face, he shot the ball, it hit the backboard missing its target. Nagato jumped up ready to rebound, only to find the ball in the hands of Hanamichi.

"1-3-1 greatest weakness is the weak baseline defense. Unless you have a great defensive last man, Akagi Takenori, and an equally capable center, Sakuragi Hanamichi, (A.N. Sakuragi plays center in this defense) to do it!" with those words, Anzai finally sat down on the bench.

_Hope this was enough for the first chapter in a year.Please drop a review on your way out ___


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